Evidence is piling up that the worst part of the recession has ended…
A better-than-expected unemployment report Friday — job losses declined to the lowest level in six months — capped a week of encouraging news, including firmer home sales, a revival in consumer spending and fresh optimism about the biggest U.S. banks.
That doesn’t mean the pain is over, but confidence is building that the recession, the longest since the Great Depression, will end this summer or fall, setting the stage for a slow recovery.